Alex Harvey won silver for the first time in 2015 as Canadian sprinters blitzed the opposition for their best world cup weekend just in time for this week’s world championships in Falun, Sweden.
In the final, Harvey, 27, fought from the back of the pack. The sprint course began with a steep climb, but excellent strategy and skis let him work his way into second on the descent, breaking up a wall of Norweigan skiers.
He and winner Finn Haagen Krogh of Norway sprinted to the final, however, Harvey couldn’t quite close the gap.
“My skis felt a little slippery at the start, so I was happy just to qualify, but then we made some adjustments,” Harvey said. “They got better and better as we went through the rounds. It started with a quick uphill which is not really my strength, so I was always in fifth or sixth until the second lap I started making some ground.”
The result was an excellent sign for Harvey leading into world championships in Falun and proof the team’s training camp paid off.
“It was a really good day all around. I just came back from altitude, so it is a bit of a tossup as to how the body will respond from that,” Harvey said. “This is great for my confidence. I think I have a little more to go, but I’m feeling close to 100 per cent as we get closer to world championships.”
It’s his second medal of the season, following a silver on the Tour de Ski.
The day also saw a return to form from Canadian powerhouse Len Valjas. The lanky Canadian has been inconsistent this year, but finished a solid 13th. Skiing in the fastest heat, he narrowly missed the chance to move on to the finals by half a second.
Jesse Cockney had an off day and finished 75th to round out the Canadian contingent.
In the women’s race, Perianne Jones had her best weekend of the year, qualifying 18th and finishing 21st. It’s Canada’s best women’s result of the season thus far.
Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt finished 55th in the first world cup start of her career. She was invited to join the team after a strong performance at the U23 championships.
Canada didn’t fair as well in the distance races, although Emily Nishikawa showed promise with a 36th-place result in the 10 kilometre skate race. It’s her second best performance on the world cup this year.
Ivan Babikov was the top Canadian in the 15 km skate, finishing a disappointing 49th. Michael Somppi was 55th in his first world cup start of 2015.
“Not a good lead up to world champs for me with today’s 49th place, but I’m trying to stay positive and focus on the next weekend,” Babikov said.
Canada is sending a much smaller team to world championships this year, with only nine earning a ticket to Falun. The Americans are sending 18 skiers, while many Scandinavian teams are able to send more than 20.
